Central Michigan University
NIU
CMU Women Improve to 3-0 in League
1/10/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - Another Mid-American Conference game, another grinder, another win.
Crystal Bradford scored 20 points and grabbed nine rebounds Saturday as the Central Michigan women's basketball team came away with a 56-43 victory at McGuirk Arena over Northern Illinois.
The win lifted CMU to 8-6, 3-0 MAC. Northern Illinois, 5-7, 1-1, entered the game as the MAC's stingiest defense, allowing just 53.9 points per game.
The Huskies held the Chippewas to almost 14 points below their season average.
"We know going in that they're a scrappy team," said CMU senior Jas'Mine Bracey, who finished with 10 points and nine rebounds. "They play the pack-line defense well which stops our offense a lot. We like to get inside, we like to drive the ball. It's (about) being disciplined, inside and out. That's what we went over all week in practice."
Lorreal Jones added 11 points and a season-high 12 rebounds in 26 minutes as the Chippewas held a 50-36 advantage on the boards. CMU collected 14 offensive rebounds, held a 13-5 edge in second-chance points, and outscored the Huskies, 26-16, in the paint.
"I thought this was the most consistent that she has been," CMU coach Sue Guevara said of Jones, a senior in her first season as a Chippewa after transferring from Saint Louis. "She was zoned in today. I'm going to talk to her about what she ate at breakfast today and make sure she eats it again. She is a senior and that should be an expectation every game."
As expected, the game unfolded as a defensive struggle. The Chippewas led 25-21 at halftime, then slowly pulled away and took control in the second half, when they limited the Huskies to just nine field goals on 30 attempts.
"I tell (NIU) coach (Kathi) Bennett, all the time when I see her, I hate playing that team," Guevara said. "I just have a lot of respect for what Kathi does with that team, with that pack-line defense. They take away the penetration lanes. It's tough to run your dribble-drive (offense).
"Then the frustration sets in so it's just kind of playing through that frustration and I say `Take your frustration out on the defensive end of the floor.'"
The Chippewas, who employ the same defense, overcame their second consecutive poor shooting day by clamping down on defense themselves.
CMU made just three of its 22 three-point tries and was 23-for-61 overall from the floor (37.7 percent). The Chippewas held the Huskies to 3-of-15 from three-point range and 31 percent shooting overall.
"Defensively I was OK," Guevara said. "We're a zone team, we are a zone basketball team, and we have to do different things out of it. As a coach, it's like we should be able to play man-to-man (defense), but you know what, we're not a good man-to-man team. We work on the fundamentals of man-to-man defense, and we use all of that in the zone and I thought today it was pretty good."
The Chippewas are a combined 4-for-39 from three-point range in their last two games.
But in both cases - they defeated Buffalo, 65-62, in a similarly played game on Wednesday - they have been able to adjust and get production in the paint from the likes of Bracey and Jones.
Those two were a combined 9-for-12 from the floor against the Huskies. Bracey has made 15 of her 18 field goal attempts over the past two games.
"The threes weren't hitting, but when we have Jas'Mine Bracey going 5-for-7 and Lorreal Jones going 4-for-5, that's really impressive for our bigs," Bradford said. "I think it's really impressive that we can change it and our team can be a paint-scoring team. Either way, I think we're finding it."
Bracey became the 26th player in CMU history to surpass 1,000 career points in the game. She is the sixth Chippewa to reach the milestone in the last three seasons, and the 10th since Guevara took over the program before the 2007-08 season.
"It's definitely an honor," Bracey said. "Proud of myself, and my teammates for helping me get there. Hopefully we can get some more people in there before we leave."
Amanda Corral led NIU with 12 points, nine of which came in the first half.
The Chippewas go on the road for two MAC games next week. On Wednesday, they play at Miami (Ohio), and on Saturday, they will play at Ohio.
